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Our Lady of Lourdes in Haslemere, recently joined hundreds of buildings throughout the country which open annually under the Heritage Open Days scheme.

The church is currently celebrating its centenary this year, with this event just one of those planned to mark the 100th anniversary. The church owes its origin to Evelyn Dudley Coats who bought land from Lord Derby in 1923, presented it to the Diocese, and paid for the building.

Miss Coats, a non-Catholic when she arrived in the area, lived in Fernhurst and ran a dairy farm which supplied the King Edward VII Sanitorium in Midhurst. At that time Haslemere was part of Godalming Parish, but the fervour of Evelyn's friend Ethel Irvine in trying to arrange for a Catholic Mass to be celebrated in Haslemere, so impressed Evelyn that she became a Catholic in 1907.

Our Lady of Lourdes was designed in the late Gothic style by Frederick A Walters - some of his original drawings can be seen in frames in front of the Lady Chapel. There are also fine stained glass windows by the notable artist Geoffrey Fuller Webb, with the stone reredos behind the main altar a representation of  Our Lady’s Basilica in Lourdes.

There was a steady stream of visitors throughout the open day, following a prepared route around the church and identifying the various features shown in a printed guide. A selection of church silver could be seen on the altar, with priestly vestments in different colours displayed on models.

Cards were also available explaining the significance of everything that was on show within the church with a team of people available to answer questions and drinks on offer in the sunny courtyard outside.

‍Many thanks to Fay Foster for sharing this account with us. The exhibition and open day were organised by parishioners Sam Dudley, Tony Lyons and Judith Davys.